Kingdom Come: Deliverance lets you pack on four layers of armor

History and role-playing buffs are in for a treat. Warhorse Studios have released a new video detailing the extensive RPG and armor systems in their crowdfunded medieval Europe game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

Touted as a realistic single-player RPG, backers and fans will be happy to know that Kingdom Come isn’t pulling any punches when it ,comes realism. For a quick and dirty comparison, it’s as if The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim removed all fantasy and magic elements to stack up on difficulty and customization instead.

Players are completely free to decide how they’ll want to experience the open-world game. Those seeking fame and fortune can prove their mettle on the battlefield, whereas the most silver-tongued of players will be plying their skills in towns and villages. To go with the Elder Scrolls comparison, statistics and skills all improve the more they’re used, letting you grow from budding amateur to cutthroat professional.

Stats apply to items as well, with weapons and armor sporting different corresponding values for blunt, slashing, and piercing damage. Their quality will degrade over time and so too will food, which starts to rot the longer they stay in one’s pockets.

Similarly, wounds and fatigue affect combat and negotiation skill respectively, so players will also want to keep an eye on their character’s condition. It’s a handful of systems to keep track of, and while the absence of water and thirst is strange, there’s plenty of micromanaging here for the enthusiastic role-player.

What’s more, all NPCs are governed by the same rules, including animals – to a certain extent, of course.

Armor is where it gets exciting. Where The Elder Scrolls started having fewer armor slots with each release, Kingdom Come bestows us with a total of 16 slots separated into four layers.

In the video, we got to see how a typical knight would suit up. It starts with the base cloth layer and the padded gambeson, followed by chain mail, plate armor, and finally either a tabard or cloak. The remaining slots for the upper torso are gloves and sleeves.

It all comes together very impressively thanks to the studio’s efforts, each layer combination touched up to prevent clipping and other oddities.

Dirt, blood, and damage are all visually represented on armor, which is significant as appearance matters in NPC interactions. In fact, players can have their characters dress appropriate to the occasion for increased options, which also factors in disguises.